Operations director vs general manager

The differences between operations directors and general managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an operations director and a general manager. Additionally, an operations director has an average salary of $104,050, which is higher than the $71,581 average annual salary of a general manager.

The top three skills for an operations director include customer service, continuous improvement and oversight. The most important skills for a general manager are customer service, cleanliness, and food safety.

Operations director vs general manager overview

	Operations Director	General Manager
Yearly salary	$104,050	$71,581
Hourly rate	$50.02	$34.41
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	114,993	442,690
Job satisfaction	-	4.25
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	6	6

What does an operations director do?

Operations directors oversee all company operations. They have the power to set the direction, change the course of the organization, and reform strategies to ensure efficiency in how the company operates. Operations directors manage business operations effectively by constantly analyzing company data and by anticipating any challenge that may come their way. As such, they make sound business decisions and recommendations that will help strengthen the organization. Operations directors oversee finances, quality control, and even human resources. They ensure that all aspects of the business are considered in making business operations decisions.

What does a general manager do?

A general manager is responsible for handling the overall operations in the business. General managers manage the staff tasks efficiently, monitor the productivity and efficiency of the work environment, implement new strategies to improve the business performance, recognize the team's best efforts, and effective allocation of budget resources. A general manager must have excellent communication, decision-making, and critical-thinking skills to identify areas of improvement in handling customer complaints, connecting with vendors and other lines of businesses that will direct the company towards its successful objectives.

Operations director vs general manager salary

Operations directors and general managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Operations Director	General Manager
Average salary	$104,050	$71,581
Salary range	Between $65,000 And $164,000	Between $40,000 And $126,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Hawaii
Best paying company	Airbnb	NVIDIA
Best paying industry	Finance	Manufacturing

Differences between operations director and general manager education

There are a few differences between an operations director and a general manager in terms of educational background:

	Operations Director	General Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Operations director vs general manager demographics

Here are the differences between operations directors' and general managers' demographics:

	Operations Director	General Manager
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 70.6% Female, 29.4%	Male, 70.7% Female, 29.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between operations director and general manager duties and responsibilities

Operations director example responsibilities.

Manage KPI reports from all warranty companies to ensure increasing sales and productivity.
Spearhead governance, security and compliance initiatives to achieve SOX and PCI compliance.
Manage a PMO style team to implement any changes across the global contact centers.
Develop all marketing strategies and materials as well as personally managing key OEM and national accounts.
Manage multiple vendor relationships for RFP development and review, contract negotiation, contract terms management, and accounts payable review.
Provide leadership to manufacturing organization by aligning overall KPIs to achieve near term and long term business objectives.

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General manager example responsibilities.

Generate positive EBITDA and improve cash flow by managing costs and inventory.
Manage all recruiting and training efforts, and develop systems to track ROI comparison results.
Work as a FOH AGM and train to manage all staff functions including training, hiring, food and labor controls.
Develop yearly budget for multiple hotels that include revenue, labor, fix and variable costs to achieve overall EBITDA goal.
Task primarily with building logistics infrastructure, managing operational expenses, and supporting start up strategies.
Train and manage FOH staff and improve overall quality, organization and professionalism of restaurant and bakery.

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Operations director vs general manager skills

Common operations director skills

Customer Service, 12%
Continuous Improvement, 7%
Oversight, 7%
Patients, 6%
Project Management, 5%
Human Resources, 4%

Common general manager skills

Customer Service, 20%
Cleanliness, 18%
Food Safety, 7%
Guest Service, 4%
Payroll, 4%
Math, 4%

Operations Director vs. similar jobs

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Updated January 8, 2025

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